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History

The Norn Stones are magical artifacts that originated in Asgard's Nornheim. The stones, said to "choose" a master and thereafter unable to be used by anyone else until the wielder surrenders them, contain vast mystical power their possessor can access. The stones' power is seemingly limited only by their wielder's imagination; they can project images of events in other dimensions, enhance the abilities of their wielder (such as strength) into superhuman ranges, enhance superhuman abilities to an even greater extent, phase through solid matter, teleport to other dimensions or galaxies, levitate, generate magical whirlwinds and reshape matter into other forms; the exact number of stones in existence is unrevealed.

When Asgard's ruler, Odin Borson, ordered princes Thor Odinson and Loki Laufeyson to submit to the "Trial of the Gods" as punishment for warring against each other in Asgard, Loki, knowing he would be prohibited from using his magical powers during the trial, obtained a pouch of Norn Stones from Nornheim's queen Karnilla. Transported with Thor to Skornheim, Loki used the Norn Stones to overcome the many obstacles before him, then cast the stones to Earth before completing the task to eliminate the evidence. However, Thor was sent by Odin to Earth to recover them, as proof of Loki's deceit. The stones were scattered across Asia, but Thor retrieved all but one of the stones, presenting them to Odin. The lost stone was found by Borjigin Byambyn Khenbish, a Mongolian "witch doctor" waging war against the Chinese government. Obtaining the stone's power, he called himself the Demon and amassed an army to overthrow the government, but Thor learned of the stone's absence and returned to vanquish the Demon and claim the stone. The Norn Stones were all returned to Karnilla. Loki eventually received more Norn Stones and used them to lure Thor to a Pacific island, animate statues to attack Thor and arrange an ambush by the dragon Fafnir of Nastrond, but Thor recovered the Stones ans used them to incapacitate both Loki and Fafnir.

Years later, Karnilla gave a pouch of Norn Stones to her lover the lighg god Balder so he and Thor's lover Sif could search for Thor, who had been exiled by Odin for seemingly murdering Loki; Sif and Balder were unaware Thor was concealed deep within Eric Masterson's subconscious, then-wielder of Mjolnir. The Norn Stones drew the duo to various locales that bore Thor's essence, bringing them to Hel, where the Destroyer armor Thor briefly wielded was left; to the home of the Korbinites and their protector, Beta Ray Bill, who once wielded Mjolnir; to New Wundagore, home of Thor's clone Nobilus; and finally to Masterson, but they failed to recognize Thor was within Masterson. After Karnilla helped Loki usurp Odin's body to conquer Asgard, she tried to coerce Balder into aiding her with the borrowed Norn Stones, but he cast the stones back at her, causing a flash of magical energy into which she vanished; Thor and Master were later separated and Thor restored.

When the Asgardian gods were captured by the Dark Gods of Narcisson, leaving Asgard vacant, the half-faerie sorceress Morgan Le Fay claimed several objects of power from Asgard, including the Norn Stones. With the stones' power, Morgan organized various factions of Asgardian creatures for attacks on members of Thor's Earthen allies the Avengers, luring the Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) into a trap and using the Witch's mutant power to alter probability to wield the Twilight Sword and reshape reality to her whim. Although Morgan's plot succeeded, the Avengers ultimately undid the effects of Morgan's reality, and Thor retrieved the Norn Stones.

When Loki joined the Cabal, a loose affiliation of powerful beings gathered by corrupt tycoon Norman Osborn, he took an interest in fellow member the Hood (Parker Robbins), who led a gang of costumed criminals. After the Hood lost the demonic powers of Dormammu, Loki led him to an abandoned church in Cuba where a cache of Norn Stones were hidden. Loki taught the Hood to wield the stones' powers, which the Hood used primarily to enhance the power of his guns' bullets. Returning to his gang, the Hood used the stones to increase their power levels for battles against the Avengers. The Hood also enhanced Osborn's superhuman agents based at Camp HAMMER. After Loki manipulated Osborn into a siege of Asgard, the Hood was summoned to support Osborn's forces against the Asgardians and Avengers. Although the Norn Stone-enhanced criminals put up a terrific fight, when the Sentry (Bob Reynolds) unleashed his dark half, the Void, and threatened to destroy all of Asgard and Earth, Loki turned on Osborn and stole the stones' power from the Hood and empowered the Avengers to combat the Void. Loki was slain during the fight with the Void, leaving the stones' status uncertain.